Thomas Brooks.
-(1608-1680)
-English pastor and author
-Puritan, Anglican
Thomas Brooks was a Puritan pastor and chaplain in the Navy. After his military career ended, he returned to London to become an Anglican priest at a local church, Thomas Apostle's. He was famed for being chosen as a preacher before the House of Commons in 1648. In 1662, the English Parliament passed the Act of Uniformity, which enforced the use of a book of common prayer and required people to attend Anglican services once a week. Brooks disagreed with the Act and refused to comply, so he lost his preaching license and, thus, his job. He continued to preach anyway at a congregation at Moorfields. Brooks lost his first wife, Martha, in 1676. He wrote, “She was always best with God in a corner. She has many a whole day been pouring out her soul before God for the nation, for Zion, and the great concerns of her soul.” He later married a young woman named Patience Cartwright. When he died, Brooks was buried in Bunhill Fields, London’s famous nonconformist cemetery. Those who did not submit to or conform to the governance of the state church, such as John Bunyan, were buried there. Thomas Brooks is best known for his work, Precious Remedies Against Satan, where he covers 12 of Satan’s devices to draw the soul away from sin and, in turn, their remedies. Read more at A Puritan’s Mind.
What is a Puritan? by John Geree (webpage) - a Puritan honored God above all and gave everyone his due under God. His first care was to serve God; therein, he did not do what was good on his own but in God’s sight, making the word of God the rule of his worship. He highly esteemed order in the House of God but would not under color of that submit to superstitious rites, which are superfluous and perish in their use.
Charles Spurgeon was a great fan of Brooks’ teaching. He and his wife, Susannah, compiled an entire book of sayings and illustrations by Brooks, titled Smooth Stones Taken from Ancient Brooks. In the preface, Spurgeon writes, He had the eagle eye of faith and the eagle wing of imagination. He saw similes, metaphors, and allegories everywhere, all consecrated to his Master’s service.
Thomas Brooks on the 7 Characteristics of False Teaching (webpage) - False doctrine somehow distorts the gospel. In other words, false teaching belittles and attacks Christ's person and/or work. False teaching ultimately presents a false gospel with false hope, leading people to a real hell.
Dear False Teacher: The Puritan Thomas Brooks Would Like a Word with You by Rosaria Butterfield (article) - Permit me to write boldly to you. You have repeated your shallow shibboleths in sermons, blogs, and conferences, and you have tried very hard to pretend that secular society is a neutral playground, a marketplace of ideas where Christianity is welcome to flourish. You punt for nuance every time and have made every clear teaching of the law and gospel a grey area of ambiguity. You have sought the middle road on every issue: gay marriage, transgender normalization, Black Lives Matter, and abortion. You always seek the third way.
Overview of the Seventeenth Century by Nicholas Needham (article) - the seventeenth century was one of the most intense, vivid, and impactful centuries in Christian history. It was as if all the issues raised by the sixteenth-century Reformation were poured out into the seventeenth-century and shaken violently. The resulting explosive blend tipped out again to ignite the following centuries, right up to the present. In this brief overview, we can only glance at some of the main themes that continue to resonate in our own time.
Smooth Stones from Ancient Brooks (free ebook) - Charles Spurgeon wrote of Brooks, “As a writer, Brooks scatters stars with both his hands: he hath dust of gold; in his storehouse are all manner of precious stones.” He counted Thomas Brooks among his favorite Puritan authors. Brooks’ popularity lies both in his subjects—practical truths central to the Christian life—and in the manner of his presentation. He is direct, urgent, fervent, full of scripture, and able to choose words that make his sentences stick in one’s mind.
Smooth Stones Taken from Ancient Brooks is a collection of sentences and quaint sayings from this renowned Puritan. Gathered by Spurgeon from the six-volume set of Brooks’ Works, it remains an excellent introduction to both the man and his writing.
A Webpage With All Things Thomas Brooks (webpage) - free ebooks & audiobooks
The Complete Works of Thomas Brooks (website) - these are free pdf downloads of works such as Precious Remedies Against Satan, A String of Pearls, The Crown and Glory of Christianity, and much more.
Christian Classics Ethereal Library (website) - several free ebooks written by Thomas Brooks
Sinclair Ferguson on the Works of Thomas Brooks
Warren Peel on 'Precious Remedies Against Satan's Devices' by Thomas Brooks
After he began preaching, Thomas Brooks wrote a book to remind us of the devices of Satan--and the "precious remedies" God has given us to combat them. On this episode of 5 Minutes in Church History, Dr. Stephen Nichols looks at the next Puritan book we should bring to the beach.
Puritan Prayers & Devotionals podcast includes readings from The Valley of Vision: A Collection of Puritan Prayers & Devotionals and Voices from the Past. You can purchase the book and read along. Many of Thomas Brook’s works are read in these episodes.
Charles Spurgeon counted Thomas Brooks among his favorite Puritan authors. Brooks’ popularity lies both in his subjects—practical truths central to the Christian life—and in the manner of his presentation. He is direct, urgent, fervent, and full of scripture, and he can choose words that make his sentences stick in one’s mind.
Smooth Stones Taken from Ancient Brooks is a collection of sentences and quaint sayings from this renowned Puritan. Gathered by Spurgeon from the six-volume set of Brooks’ Works, it remains an excellent introduction to both the man and his writing.
Brooks treated the seductive influence and terrible power of Satan in a way greatly more full and suggestive than in the literature of the present day. Brooks lists seven reasons for writing this book. The first reason is enough...Brooks says, "Satan hath a more significant influence upon men, and higher advantages over them than they think he hath, and the knowledge of his high advantage is the highway to disappoint him, and to render the soul robust in resisting, and happy in conquering.
This book is a collection of sentences, illustrations, and quaint sayings from Thomas Brooks. Charles Spurgeon and his wife Susie gathered it from the six-volume set of Brooks' Works, which remains an excellent introduction to the man and his writings.
This book includes Precious Remedies Against Satan's Devices, Apples of Gold for Young Men and Women, the Mute Christian Under the Smarting Rod, a String of Pearls
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